Lisa Cassis

Lisa Cassis, PhD, is a Professor at the University of Kentucky, affiliated with the College of Pharmacy, the Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences, the Saha Cardiovascular Research Center, the Graduate Center for Toxicology, and the Barnstable Brown Diabetes and Obesity Center. She served as the Vice President for Research at the University of Kentucky from June 2015 to September 2024 and has been a principal investigator on multiple NIH-funded grants.

Education:

• B.S. in Pharmacy from West Virginia University
• Ph.D. in Pharmacology from West Virginia University

Her research focuses on the role of the renin-angiotensin system in cardiovascular diseases, particularly angiotensin II-induced aortic aneurysms and hypertension. Her work explores sex differences, the impact of obesity, and molecular mechanisms involving adipocyte signaling, mitochondrial dysfunction, and genetic factors in vascular pathologies.

Recent publications highlight trends in aortic aneurysm mechanisms, sex hormone interactions, and therapeutic interventions targeting the angiotensin system. Key subfields include perivascular fat biology, serotonin signaling, TGF-β pathway analysis, and translational models for human disease.